1. Field of the Invention
The invention, in general, relates to a dishwasher and, more particularly, to a dishwasher of the kind provided with a parallelepiped housing with an opening in one of its front surfaces and a drawer-like washing compartment which is horizontally movable through the opening into and out of the housing and which has an upwardly facing opening for placing and removing dishes.
The margins of the side walls of the washing compartment extend parallel to the upper surface of the housing or an intermediate sealing surface, as the case may be, and when the compartment is in the housing, they engage it in a sealing manner.
2. The Prior Art
A dishwasher of this kind has been disclosed by WO 98/33426 A1 which gives a detailed description of the advantages of such a dishwasher.
It is, however, difficult to seal the upwardly open wash compartment sufficiently securely to prevent the escape of wash fluid. It requires a liquid-proof contact either between the top side or lid of the housing or sealing strips or ledges at the side walls of the housing extending parallel to the lid thereof and the margins of the washing compartment which define the opening thereof. As a rule, the seal is formed by flexible gaskets at both or either of the margins and the housing. The proper function of such sealing arrangement depends upon some force exerted between the sealing members. In the rear area of the dishwasher the force is established by the inward movement of the washing compartment which is directed normal to the sealing ledge. The lateral ledges, however, extend parallel to the movement of the washing compartment. Therefore, measures must be taken which provide for a vertical force between the lateral sealing edges on the compartment and housing.
In one of the structures disclosed by WO 98/33426 A1 this is accomplished by the lid of the dishwasher moving against the washing compartment at the end of the inward movement of the latter into the housing. However, such an arrangement requires linkages for translating the horizontal movement of the compartment into a vertical movement of the lid of the housing which are not only complex and, therefore, expensive, but which also are likely to suffer from a high potential of distortion.
An alternative structure of the dishwasher of WO 98/33426 A1 makes use of a washing compartment which is higher at its front section than at its rear section so that the margins of its side walls are inclined towards the rear of the dishwasher. With a correspondingly inclined lid or sealing ledge, the direction of the inward movement of the washing compartment thus extends angularly with respect to the sealing ledges and results in a wedged seal. However, the inclined disposition of the sealing margins suffers from several disadvantages. The height and, therefore, the volume of the washing compartment are reduced, And residual water on the sealing ledges runs off towards the rear of the housing.
In addition, WO 98/33426 A1 discloses structures with folding lids as well as roller-supported endless lids. These, however, their sealing leaves much to be desired. Furthermore, movable and inflatable seals are being suggested along with their complex activating structures.